Going into his office, a small partitioned section of a larger room – he gazed morosely down at the road through windows sectioned with crosses of packing tape, which was there to prevent the windows from shattering in a raid. The traffic was heavy at this time of the afternoon.
He remembered another woman who’d lived at the same house as Meggie Elliot did. The aunt’s name had been Esmé Thornton. On his second visit he’d met her husband, tall, loose-limbed and muscled. He had an Australian accent. He was a good-looking chap, his manner happy and relaxed as though he enjoyed his lot in life. And why wouldn’t the man feel good with the luscious Esmé for a wife and the equally lovely Meggie as a boarder?
He called for his assistant and placed the Elliot girl’s file in his hands. Gordon Frapp was supposed to be a bit of a boffin, though Nick hadn’t seen anything spectacular in him yet. He’d attended the same school as Bethuen, so was probably there to keep his eye on Nick, and report back.
‘We’re getting a new assistant – a Wren. She’ll be coming in on Friday to get the feel of the place.’
Frapp didn’t seem surprised. ‘I’ll get in touch with supplies and see if I can get her a desk and a typewriter.’
‘Find her something to do besides typing, would you? After that weekend I’ll be going away for a week or so.’
Frapp gazed at him, his brown eyes magnified by his reading glasses so they looked like aniseed balls. His sight hadn’t been good enough to support his application to join any of the service branches on active duty, and he resented not being able to wear a uniform. Bethuen called him Goggles, something Frapp detested. A lock of lank brown hair fell over his forehead. ‘What would you suggest?’
‘Use your imagination, Gordon. God knows we have enough bits of paper floating around the place. Give her some messages to decode. Mix in some cryptic crosswords with messages embedded in them. Let’s find out what she’s made of.’
‘Where will you be if I need you, sir?’
‘Unobtainable. Operations, you know. You’ll be answering to Bethuen until I’m back, but unless it’s urgent . . . well, you know the score.’
‘Anything special, sir?’
‘You should know better than to ask, but I expect you’ll hear in good time. He hesitated, then smiled and took a shot in the dark. ‘How’s that waterfront affair coming along . . . the one you didn’t tell me about?’
The aniseed balls flicked sideways in guilty unison, and then came back to him. ‘It was nothing to do with our department, so I shuffled the problem over to Customs and Excise.’
‘Good. Keep me informed of everything that comes in from now on, would you. As head of department decisions like that should be left up to me, don’t you think?’
‘Yes, sir. It won’t happen again.’
‘If it does I’ll look on it as a disloyal act. You can’t serve two masters. It’s just not done.’ Besides which Frapp wasn’t clever enough. ‘I think I might have something that would be right up your street? It will get you out of the office from time to time, but you might have to do some of it in your own time, and of course, you wouldn’t be able to tell your wife what it is.’
‘I’m not married, I live with my mother.’
‘Ah, yes, so you do . . . let me think a minute. It will be quite a test for your detecting skills, you know.’ Not to mention his loyalty.
There was a doggy enthusiasm about Frapp now, like a bloodhound waiting to explode in a ball of energy from its leash and get on the scent. ‘I won’t let you down, sir. I promise.’
‘I wouldn’t expect you to, and you will have my absolute trust.’ He decided to give the pot of intrigue a bit of a stir. ‘Very well then, the subject is . . . James Bethuen.’
When Frapp began to splutter, Nick smiled, then went to the door and made sure it was closed. He lowered his voice. ‘This comes right from the very top, Gordon, so be careful. I recommended you because you attended school with Bethuen, and know him better than any of us. Give the file a code name . . . Maggot would be appropriate, I think.’
Frapp’s smile exposed a row of slightly crooked teeth. He was a nondescript sort of chap who bit his fingernails, but otherwise had clean habits, and was neat and thorough. Lies didn’t sit easily on him, and that sort of inner self-righteousness was an arrogance that could be fed and used. ‘You know, Gordon, once this stoush with the Jerry is over I’m going to set up my own investigative department. I’ll need an assistant who is both discreet and skilled. If you bring this off satisfactorily, and you’re interested, I’ll keep you in mind.’
‘Thank you, sir. I imagine I will be.’
‘Now – this Bethuen thing. It’s no big deal. I expect there are dossiers on all of us in various offices. My superiors especially want to know what he does after hours. Do you think you can manage it? I shouldn’t have to remind you that you’ve sworn an oath under the Official Secrets Act?’
‘Of course I can.’
He looked so eager to set about the task of helping Nick bring Bethuen down that Nick wondered what Frapp had against the man.
Meggie presented herself to her new workplace on the dot. Shown to a small office she was told to wait. There was another young woman there. She had blue eyes, light brown hair and a ready smile, and Meggie liked her on sight. They wore matching uniforms, though the other woman was a few years older than Meggie. ‘Third officer Margaret Elliot,’ Meggie said with a smile, trying to sound efficient.
‘I’m third officer Judith Scott. I think I saw you at a couple of the officer training sessions. Is this your first posting? It is mine.’
‘Yes it is.’
‘Perhaps we could get together later and swap notes. And if you hear of a room going begging let me know. I’m crammed in an attic with several other girls. It’s the size of a dog kennel and we’re sleeping head to tail, like sardines.’
The door opened and Meggie’s glance travelled up a long pair of legs, picked up speed and tangled with a pair of eyes that had stolen their colour from the silvery grey of unfurling bracken. There was something familiar about him that was instant recognition, but totally elusive.
‘Margaret Elliot?’ he said, his smile shadowed by charm.
Meggie stood. Lor, but he was handsome, and in a well-bred sort of way that could only be enhanced by his uniform – especially one so obviously made to measure.
‘Yes, sir.’
In a voice like smoked silk, he said, ‘I’m Lord Cowan. I believe you might belong to me.’
He had an intimate, possessive way of introducing himself and claiming her – too intimate. He was also too sure of himself, and the hairs on her arms were beginning to prickle with an instinctive unease. ‘How would you prefer to be addressed, my lord?’
‘Just sir will do.’ He then looked at Judith who was gazing at him through wide eyes. With looks like his, he probably got a lot of that, Meggie thought, tearing her gaze away from him with difficulty. ‘You must be third officer Judith Scott. I’ll take you on a tour with us before I introduce you to James Bethuen, who runs the department. He’s busy at a meeting at the moment. You’ll be working as his private secretary.’
‘Won’t he need me at the meeting then?’
He gave a lazy sort of smile. ‘Probably, but he won’t be expecting you because I told him you wouldn’t be here until ten.’
Meggie’s attempt to stifle a giggle, earned her an assessing look and a faint grin. ‘Miss Elliot, I’ll leave you with my second-in-charge Gordon Frapp. He’s not as amusing as I am, but he’s very thorough. He’ll give you something to do, though we’re still waiting for your desk to arrive. The office closes for lunch between one and two p.m. The tea trolley comes round three times a day, with sandwiches at lunchtime. I’ve ordered a round of egg and cress for you both for today, but you must put in an advance order for next week. Gordon will walk you through it.’
One delicate female shaped eyebrow arched. ‘I think I’m capable of ordering a week’s supply of sandwiches.’
‘I’m sure you are. Look on it as an intelligence test.’
An exasperated intake of breath was a just reward for his remark.
They walked after him as he pointed out the various features, such as the supplies room, where everything had to be signed for. Then there was the files room, and a common room, where they could eat their lunch if they wished, and the washrooms.
Handing her over to Gordon Frapp, Lord Cowan disappeared with Judith in tow. They didn’t see him for the rest of the morning.
‘Sometimes he goes off for days,’ Gordon said with a smile.
‘What is my actual job description?’ she asked.
‘It’s hard to say, really. We do anything that comes in. You can describe yourself as a writer or a secretary if you want a label and anybody thinks to ask, but generally we don’t talk about the department, or what we do outside these four walls. If you find anything that seems suspicious tell me and I’ll phone it through to the correct department who will follow it up.’
She was handed some cryptic crosswords, obviously doctored to contain a message, though she enjoyed doing them anyway. Then a magnifying glass was placed in her hand and some photographs taken from the air over the continent that came in pairs and had different dates on them.
‘Familiarize yourself with any features, and see if you can find anything that looks strange and out of place,’ Gordon said. ‘We inform the air force if we see anything that resembles guns, or any sudden density of foliage that might conceal a build up of weapons or troops.’
Meggie began to feel as though she was a tangible part of the war effort.
‘Is this what I’ll be doing all day?’
‘We do all sorts of things, usually what we’re asked to do. You might be given files to collate. Just remember that everything we do is top secret, even if it seems trivial. At the moment I’m trying to find out your strengths and weaknesses. We don’t ask questions.’
By that he meant she shouldn’t ask any either.
Time went quickly, and her boss came back. ‘Still no desk, Gordon?’
Gordon shook his head, then rose and went into the filing room.
Lord Cowan went into his office, shut the door and dialled a number. Meggie could still hear his voice. ‘Where’s that desk and chair I requisitioned for my department. You promised we could have it today. Where d’you expect my new assistant to sit . . . on my lap? And don’t forget the typewriter. A new one would be appreciated. I don’t want some worn out old banger with half the letters missing that clatters, and keeps me awake when I’m supposed to be asleep at my desk.’
Meggie giggled when he laughed and purred silkily into the receiver, ‘Who am I? I’m Viscount Cowan. You may address me as My Lord. Who are you? No . . . don’t tell me. You’re that cute young lady with baby blue eyes and dark hair that I pass every day in the lobby. Of course I noticed you, my dear. Now, about that desk . . .’
On the way home Meggie wondered if Leo and her aunt would have room for Judith. She shook her head. They’d been wonderful making room for her, but she couldn’t expect them to accommodate a complete stranger. All the same, it was a big house.
The basement came into her mind, as it had on a couple of occasions before when she’d gone to bed early because she knew that her aunt and uncle needed privacy. If the rubbish was thrown away and the other stuff down there stored in one of the spare upstairs rooms she could live there and not be a bother to anyone. There was enough furniture for their needs in the house, too.
The old-fashioned cooking range in the basement would heat the place as well. There was no bathroom, but a small laundry by the back door that could be screened off, and the housekeeper’s room used as a bedroom. They could wash in a tin bath there, and there was a necessary at the end of the garden that she could clean the cobwebs from so they wouldn’t disturb the upstairs occupants. It would be fun to have her own flat, and she could invite friends to visit if she ever made any.
She raised the subject with her aunt and uncle over dinner.
‘Are you sure, Meggie? The basement will take a lot of cleaning.’
‘Not once I’ve got rid of the rubbish. There’s a girl I met who’s looking for somewhere to live, and we could both pay rent. Also, we’d have our own street entrance to the house. You and I can visit each other for a chat via the inside stairs if we get lonely.’
Leo huffed with laughter. ‘With the navy living downstairs, we’d better have a periscope and intercom installed. What’s the girl like?’
‘I’ve only just met her, but I like her, and I think you’ll both like her too. Her father’s a greengrocer in Bury St Edmunds.’
‘And the job? Will you enjoy it as much as your legal office?’
‘I expect so. To be honest, it was such a scramble there, and fun, but I’d rather be using my own brain than type up the results of another’s reasonings. The silks were such prima donnas. Sometimes I got the impression that they didn’t really approve of me. I don’t know exactly what I’m doing at the moment, but at least I’m doing my bit. I’ll get into some sort of routine eventually, I expect.’
‘And your commanding officer?’
‘My immediate boss is quite nice, from what I’ve seen of him. He’s on operations at the moment.’
‘It’s not common knowledge, but rumour, so let’s keep this inside these four walls. I heard it from one of the other doctors. The ground troops are trapped, and being evacuated through Dunkirk. Apparently we’re using every boat that can float to bring them home, including civilian pleasure craft. What’s your boss’s name?’
‘He’s an aristocrat called Viscount Cowan, and is quite suave and handsome, a bit like the film star Stewart Granger. We get free sandwiches for lunch, and tea. That’s a bonus.’
Aunt Es smiled. ‘I would have thought having a boss who resembled Stewart Granger would have been the bonus.’
Leo snorted. ‘I’ll deal with you later for that remark, woman.’
‘And the basement?’
‘Get it cleaned up first and then we’ll see what we can make of it. You need to mix with people of your own age. And at least I can still keep an eye on you for your mother.’
Meggie rolled her eyes and gave an exaggerated sigh.
Leo ignored it. ‘We can have a bonfire with the rubbish, as long as it’s during the day. We’ll start on it tomorrow. If you still want to ask that girl, and she wants to come here, tell her she can come and help clean the place. We won’t charge you any rent, but you can pay half the utility bills between you.’